20 Years of Dischord is a box set released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Washington based punk label, Dischord Records. The box set includes 3 CDs which include 73 tracks, plus a book which has an introduction about how the label was formed, and then a double page spread on each of the 50 bands that Dischord released records o over 20 years. The actual anniversary fo Dischord was 2000, but the box set took so long to put together that it ended up coming out in 2002. It is available for $25 in the US (according to the back of the box) and I got my hands on it for £17 in the UK, although I have seen it for 15 on Amazon, with up to a 6 week wait. Take your choice. It can be quite hard to find (it was for me) so I would recommend either massive chain record shops (because they have everything) or specialist punk record shops (as they are likely to order it specially). Otherwise you could be looking for a while. And if you think £25 is pretty cheap for 3 CDs and a 130 odd page book, that's because Dischord have always believed in selling records for fair prices, rather than the $18 everyone else thinks is acceptable.

The first and second CDs together contain one song each from all the 50 bands Dischord have made a record for from 1980 to 2000. The third CD contains rare unreleased stuff by some of the more well known bands, an interview with some people after a gig, and 6 videos of some of the early bands performing. These videos are of quite poor quality, but really capture the DIY spirit of the time. And the video for Void is quite hilarious - after the singer makes some truly incredible jumps, and everyone starts crowdsurfing, you just see a pair of legs float around the crowd, pointing upwards. I'm not sure if their owner could hear much with his unfortunate vertical arrangement, but I'm sure he was having fun.

Tracks

Book

The 134 page book tops the brilliant package perfectly - a double page spread of each band (including a little about how the band formed, who the people in it used to play for, what the line up at the time of the track included on the box set was, anything special about the band, and a picture taken at that period. It's great to see how some figures, such as Ian MacKaye, have moved through large amounts of bands, and what influences they brought with them. It makes the DC scene look more like a group of friends than a group of unconnected bands, which I guess is probably what it was like at the time.

Overall, if you enjoy hardcore punk in any way at all, I would strongly suggest picking up this boxed set. It's available at a very reasonable price, has loads of cool art (such as two pictures of Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson (who founded the label over 20 years ago to release a 7" for their band The Teen Idles) sitting in the same room on the same chairs, taken twenty years apart - so much has changed in that time, but even more has stayed the same), and, most importantly for me, has absolutely brilliant music. This set was kind of an introduction to real hardcore punk rock for me, and on the strength of this only I've gone out and bought two Dag Nasty alb ums and not been slightly disappointed. Either way, if you already like punk, or you are thinking about getting into it, this set is a must. It really is that good.

Sources:

Owning the set
Book inside the set
Wig Out at Denko's and Can I Say albums.

Wig Out at Denko's	Minor Threat	Can I Say	Carl Reiner
Dischord Recording Artists	Deep Threadvein Thrombosis	Shudder to Think	A soft wonder bites her lips
Dag Nasty	The Twenty Year Jinx	2038 problem	Dischord Records
The Ramones

20 Years of Dischord

Tracks

CD 1: 50 Bands part 1

CD 2: 50 Bands part 2

CD 3: Rare and Unreleased

Book